Maryland: the 'Silicon Valley' of Cybersecurity?

One of Maryland's top elected officials is pressing to have his state take the lead in being a home to the federal government's cybersecurity community, along with the private companies that serve that community.

At the recent Maryland Association of Counties convention in Ocean City, the state's Lieutenant Governor, Anthony Brown, used a panel discussion on the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process to outline plans to position the Free State to expand into new territory regarding the Federal Government.

Governor Martin O'Malley told a recent edition of "Ask the Governor" on our sister station, 103.5 FM WTOP Radio, that "Maryland is already home to the National Security Agency (NSA), and because of that, as well as several of the other great federal institutions, we have, according to the Census, the greatest number of PhDs per capita. A lot of them are math majors working for our nation's security, and our nation's cybersecurity at the NSA."

O'Malley notes that serving that large cybersecurity presence are a number of very large private companies, along with smaller companies that provide goods and services to those firms and the federal government.

Because of that, O'Malley believes that, "Maryland has the potential to become the 'silicon Valley' of cybersecurity."

In a follow-up interview with FederalNewsRadio, O'Malley was asked what Maryland can do to improve upon, and expand the presence of the cybersecurity agencies and industry in the state.

"One thing is to do a better job of promoting our state to the kind of companies that do this sort of business nationwide and worldwide, to make that base of businesses that are doing that high level of IT and cybersecurity aware that Maryland is the epicenter of this sort of activity for the federal government. NSA employs a tremendous number of incredibly talented people who complete their service, they have their security clearance from their years in the Federal Government, and then they can go on to jobs with the contractors who do this sort of work. In economic development, its known as a 'cluster', there's a cluster of entities that already do this work, and what we're trying to do, what the Lt. Gov. is trying to do is give some public voice to public leadership on the importance of this kind of industry to the nation's security, and also Maryland's economy."

O'Malley also cited educational institutions like the University of Maryland, Bowie State University, Johns Hopkins, and other schools that offer advanced computer technology and IT training pertinent to cybersecurity work.

O'Malley concluded by saying he believes that expanding the presence of federal cybersecurity in Maryland could add an additional 30,000 jobs to the already 60,000 jobs projected due to BRAC projects now under construction at places like the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, and other federal facilities.

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